My kids spend a lot of time together with me as their fearless leader because they are only 2.5 years apart and get along, but this summer, I was able to arrange their camp schedules so each could attend a week of the greatest camp ever: MAMA CAMP.
MAMA CAMP is when one sibling goes to summer camp and the other hangs out with me all week long. We do fun activities that are geared completely towards the kid’s interests with none of the well-your-brother-loves-this-place-so-we’re-going-this-afternoon or you-pick-the-place-next-week-but-it’s-your-sister’s-turn-now.
My youngest was first up and thank you eight-pound-baby Jesus because older kids can understand their time will come on the calendar. Five-year-olds, on the other hand, tend to live in a moment where every day is Friday unless something goes wrong then it will be Monday forever.
I sat down the week before MAMA CAMP and scoured libraries and county announcements and park and recs and what time Build-A-Bear opened to plan my daughter’s and my week together. And 5 years old the best age for events because most are split into 3-5 or 5 and up. She could do it all, baby!
We went to one of three different craft and story times at the library.
We painted pottery, and I could pay attention to everything she wanted without my son’s background melody: I’M DONE
We built a bear.
We went way too often to Starbucks for pumpkin bread and chai lattes (respectively).
We never rushed anywhere so we could window shop or wander into stores and parks and playgrounds whenever it suited us.
We sat around the house and goofed off.
We even scheduled her a date with my husband on his morning off, and on her request, they reenacted Harry Potter for two hours straight.
In other words, I created a camp where she felt known and heard and loved.
Her brother is already planning his camp with Chuck E. Cheese and bike rides and Pokemon battles, and we’re both so excited because while we love so many of the camps around town, we now have an all-time favorite: MAMA CAMP.
